Both of her programs this year are hurt by the step sequences. They just go on and on without enough purpose. Last year David Wilson was brilliant with the construction of the step sequence to the music in the LP. The first 18 seconds of it was grand and fast-paced, but then there's a natural musical transition to a slower and softer piece, which allowed Yu-Na to slowly do required turns for the sequence while looking like she was solely interpreting the music. The sequence actually goes on for 40 seconds but almost the entire second half of it doesn't look like she's performing an element. It's extremely hard to make footwork, with all the ridiculous required rules, work that well choreographically and interpretively.

Beyond that, I feel the choreography for ALL of the spins in the LP should be improved. My breakdown of her current spins, in their current program order, and how I would change them:

FCCoSp4 - This is good until the weak half-upright twisted position she does. Not a good look, slows the spin down, and doesn't go with the music. She should instead do an upright crossleg position there. That's a feature she used in 2010 and for some reason her coaches haven't been utilizing it since then. It would work better. She should also take out her trademark upside-down camel position at the start of the spin here and replace it with a donut position, because the upside-down position needs to be used as a feature later in the program.

LSp3 - There is no point in doing a Layback here. She isn't able to execute this move nearly as well as she used to and it doesn't go with the music. This is a lackluster piece of choreography and just throws .8 base value away technically. She should instead be doing a CCSp4: backwards camel entrance, change to upside-down position, change foot to upward catch-foot camel position, then change to an inside edge after a couple rotations.

CCoSp4 - The change of edge on the Camel has to come out, since we already used it in her previous spin. That's a good change anyway because it slows this spin down, which is particularly distracting when considering how rapidly the music is moving at the end of the program. After the entry camel position she'll go down into a regular sit position, instead of the broken-leg position she's currently attempting right now; that position doesn't look great for her. Following the sit spin she'll pull up into a haircutter layback position. Change foot to back camel, as in the current spin, and then do a jump down into sit spin position. She needs an extra level feature here since we took out the change of edge at the start of the spin and a jump works great with music here anyway. She'll end the spin by pulling up into the upright I position, as she currently does.

Interesting.

Haven't seen Kim do a donut spin in a while. But she can't do Biellmans because her back, so I doubt she'll be showcasing that anytime soon. Her spins always make me sit on the edge of my seat (from nervousness). They've gotten a bit slower since her heyday (albeit faster/steadier since Worlds), but I can't seem to erase that bobbling camel spin in her sp at Worlds out of my head.

So at just under 2:40 into the program there feels like a really important part of the music. But the program lacks any momentum building to this climax. It feels like Yuna was just doing a bunch of stuff (including 3+2) and then oh here the music is picking up and she's hurrying to squeeze in the next part. Anyone else have the same feeling?

Actually if I just start the video at the lead in to that 3+2 then the choreo seems fine, in fact the rest of the program actually starts to have some magic. I think that's telling me before 2:30 is out of whack, there is no momentum or flow from the first 2:30 to the rest of the program.

I watched it a few times, and still find it not satisfactory.
Like someone mentioned upthread, the program feels disjointed.
I only like the 3x3 and the second 3sal.

Step sequence went on too long. And it feels like a junior girl trying to go through step that is beyond her ability. Really odd. Yuna came alive in some of her previous step sequence, this one was just bad.

Spiral is also unfortunate.

Good thing is this, if she skates clean, her pcs will be huge regardless of this uninspiring choreography. You can't interpret this mess.

I watched it a few times, and still find it not satisfactory.
Like someone mentioned upthread, the program feels disjointed.
I only like the 3x3 and the second 3sal.

Step sequence went on too long. And it feels like a junior girl trying to go through step that is beyond her ability. Really odd. Yuna came alive in some of her previous step sequence, this one was just bad.

Spiral is also unfortunate.

Good thing is this, if she skates clean, her pcs will be huge regardless of this uninspiring choreography. You can't interpret this mess.

So at just under 2:40 into the program there feels like a really important part of the music. But the program lacks any momentum building to this climax. It feels like Yuna was just doing a bunch of stuff (including 3+2) and then oh here the music is picking up and she's hurrying to squeeze in the next part. Anyone else have the same feeling?

Could be, but I looked at that and thought Yuna was really focusing so as not to miss that critical 3Lutz jumping pass.

The music's climax--are you referring to the Ina Bauer into the 2Axel+2Toe+2Loop? Maybe the Ina Bauer needs more buildup and held for a little longer for better. This climax would work best with an Ina Bauer 2Axel+3Toe, as others have mentioned.

Well said. I'm guilty of this myself, but I think I (and others) hold Kim to a different standard. Which makes me (us) quick to judge at times. Let us be optimistic shall we? She has 2 months to tighten up that step sequence.

Good points. It should definitely be more focused on the positive side. Her facial expressions during the program were frequently pained or sad. But then she punctuates it with a few smiles and playfulness. I think I get what they're going for but it does feel odd to switch like that.

Can I just say...I'm so DONE with the 'fire and pizzaz' and OLE! kind of tangos? She already did that once in her career with Roxanne, and I think we can agree she doesn't need to do another tango like that to prove she can (especially after having shown us an encore of that Roxanne program, with even more polish and matured sensuality, at one of her ice shows). I find this LP interesting for a lot of reasons similar to why I found Gershwin interesting; it takes some viewing, it's not immediately easy and accessible like her Danse Macabre or Scheherazade, it's absolutely brimming with transitions and dynamism, and what's more it covers a range of emotions that are hard to find in one program (remember all the 'stages' in Gershwin that she went through?). That's probably why it feels disjointed, but I feel that with more polish, she could pull it off, that she could tell us a story with it.

TL;DR version: I'm waiting for a larger event where she can show it to us with more polish.

You compare some program to Rome?
Let me tell you, David probably spent 2 hrs choreographed this. Morozov famously said he spent 15 min doing miki programs. Lori said she spent the afternoon doing caro program. You think these programs take years? Lol at yourself.

I rather think Ven was referring to the number of hours in total that Yuna - or any skater, for that matter - spends on a single program to perfect it. And the fact that Yuna has been injured. (Though, that being said, she hasn't taken a single break since last Worlds.)

Can I just say...I'm so DONE with the 'fire and pizzaz' and OLE! kind of tangos? She already did that once in her career with Roxanne, and I think we can agree she doesn't need to do another tango like that to prove she can (especially after having shown us an encore of that Roxanne program, with even more polish and matured sensuality, at one of her ice shows). I find this LP interesting for a lot of reasons similar to why I found Gershwin interesting; it takes some viewing, it's not immediately easy and accessible like her Danse Macabre or Scheherazade, it's absolutely brimming with transitions and dynamism, and what's more it covers a range of emotions that are hard to find in one program (remember all the 'stages' in Gershwin that she went through?). That's probably why it feels disjointed, but I feel that with more polish, she could pull it off, that she could tell us a story with it.

Let us be optimistic shall we? She has 2 months to tighten up that step sequence.

You're right, and I'm definitely optimistic, I mean look at Yuna and David's history. It's magic. That said, I don't think there's anything wrong with discussing the unfinished work we have in front of us. Nor does that mean if we offer criticism that we fear the worst or think the whole thing is a debacle. It's just an unfinished work, needs to be polished, and we'll see what happens. In the end I'm confident Yuna will exceed expectations.

Can I just say...I'm so DONE with the 'fire and pizzaz' and OLE! kind of tangos? She already did that once in her career with Roxanne, and I think we can agree she doesn't need to do another tango like that to prove she can (especially after having shown us an encore of that Roxanne program, with even more polish and matured sensuality, at one of her ice shows). I find this LP interesting for a lot of reasons similar to why I found Gershwin interesting; it takes some viewing, it's not immediately easy and accessible like her Danse Macabre or Scheherazade, it's absolutely brimming with transitions and dynamism, and what's more it covers a range of emotions that are hard to find in one program (remember all the 'stages' in Gershwin that she went through?). That's probably why it feels disjointed, but I feel that with more polish, she could pull it off, that she could tell us a story with it.

TL;DR version: I'm waiting for a larger event where she can show it to us with more polish.

It's not OLE! and pizzaz I'm looking for, but more intensity and focus. That's what I take as "fierce attack".